Tag: close up magic

Magic as an Art

banana bandana

Magicians love to complain about how no one takes magic seriously as an art. Usually, those are the people who aren’t out there creating art, they’re doing cover band magic. Those are the people who buy a routine and do it word for word.

There’s nothing wrong with buying a routine and performing it. Just like there’s nothing wrong with doing a paint by number painting. If that’s what brings you joy, by all means, do it. It’s just not (in my opinion) creating art.

How do you become an artist? That’s a hard thing to say, and honestly I barely consider myself one and really hate it when I refer to myself as an artist. One place to start is figuring out who you are and how to convey that to your audience.

Do you like movies? Talk about that in your show.
Do you have kids? Talk about them in your show.

Another way is to have a point of view.
Are you Anti Tax? Talk about that in your show.

The more of you and your worldview you put into the show, the closer it starts moving into art.

Also, I should mention, art isn’t just presentation, it can be the sleight of hand.

-Louie

Devil’s Wand!

I came across a vintage magic trick that Royal Magic put out called the Devil’s Wand. This was sold as a beginner’s magic trick and looks a lot like the Pom Pom Pole; however, it’s a close-up version. This differs slightly from the modern stage version at the end.

Here’s a demo video of it:

@louiefoxx Magic trick is still great after 75 years! #magictrick #magic #magician #vintage #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

In case you didn’t notice, this is totally examinable at the end! When I first found this trick, I watched a couple of online video demos, and all of them skipped that part. That’s the most interesting thing about the trick! That’s a great feature that no one does anymore. I’m not sure how the gimmick would scale to a larger stage-size pom pom pole, but it’s sure cool for this smaller-sized one.

That’s one of the fun things about vintage magic tricks: you find little things that got left off of the more modern versions.

-Louie

Trick Supply in Las Vegas

Last week when I was in Las Vegas I popped by the Trick Supply magic shop. I was hoping to catch Eric Stevens working there, but he wasn’t in. I had to settle for Doug Conn working that day and I’m definitely fine with that!

doug conn at trick supply

Trick Supply is a great shop, they have a ton of new and older stuff IN STOCK. While I was there, I picked up a couple of older close-up magic tricks. Plus, with Doug and Eric working there, the staff are very knowledgeable magicians! This is worth a stop when you’re in Las Vegas!

-Louie

WonderGround in Las Vegas!

Last week I was passed through Las Vegas on my way home from a booking conference and performed at WonderGround! This is a magic / variety show that was originally started by Jeff McBride, but is currently run by Will Bradshaw.

wonderground las vegas

I think this was my fourth or fifth time doing WonderGround and it’s always a ton of fun. I ran into a bunch of old friends, made new friends and met people that I only knew from social media.

wonderground las vegas
wonderground las vegas
wonderground las vegas
wonderground las vegas
wonderground las vegas
wonderground las vegas

One of the highlights of the show was running into Richard. He saw my show at his elementary school about 15 years ago and that was his introduction to magic. Now he’s a working magician in Las Vegas!

Wonderground is really three shows: An early stage show, close up show and a late stage show. I performed in the late stage and close up shows.

wonderground Louie
wonderground Louie

One of the cool things about this show is that it’s a great audience! If you’re ever in Las Vegas when the WonderGround show is going on, you absolutely should go so it! For a $20 admission it’s a steal!

-Louie

Upside Down Bill Gag

There’s the old trick in many beginner magic books where you have a dollar bill right-side up. You fold it, then unfold it, and it’s now upside down. I had an idea for that, and something like this has probably been done before.

Effect: You show a dollar bill that’s right side up. You fold it and unfold it, and now it’s upside down. You do it again, but this time you draw arrows pointing up on it. You fold it up again, and this time, when you unfold it, the arrows are pointing down, but the bill is still right side up!

dollar bill magic trick
dollar bill magic trick

There’s not much to it; it’s just a bill switch and two bills. The second bill has the arrows pointing down drawn on it. Any bill switch should work, but ideally, one that only requires you to fold the bill 2-3 times would be best.

This trick could also be done with the bill turning upside down, but the arrows still pointing up.

dollar bill magic trick

This is a fun little kicker trick to the old gag. As I said earlier, something similar to this has probably been done before.

-Louie

Slippery Cards Gag!

When I open a new deck of cards and have them shuffled by someone in the audience, 90% of the time they will comment that they’re slippery. That’s where this gag comes in.

slippery cards magic trick

When they comment on the cards being slick, I take out a little caution sign and set it on the table. That gets a laugh, and it’s a gag that will introduce the prop. I like using a gag to introduce a prop, another example of this is my Bodega Coin Tray. Also, when you use the prop for a gag, it serves a purpose and is less suspect later, since the audience thinks it’s already fulfilled its role.

What happens is that during your card tricks, at one point, the signed card appears under the little sign (like card under glass). Then later, you say the card is under the sign, but it’s not; however, the sign has changed to say the name of their card! Then, a moment later, the signed card has reappeared under the sign again!

slippery cards magic trick
slippery cards magic trick

I’m having a lot of fun with this little prop!

-Louie

Magic Special from 1978!

Growing up in magic in the 1990’s there wasn’t a lot of ways to watch performances of magicians. You either had to go to a show, or catch one on a TV show when it aired. That really limited me to watching modern performers, or older performers who were past their prime at a magic convention.

This is a great video from 1978 of many performers who I had read about while they are still in their prime!

This was a lot of fun to watch and I’m glad I stumbled across it!

-Louie

Magic TV Appearance

A couple of weeks ago I was on a local TV show to promote National Magic Week. It was a fairly quick appearance and I did one trick which was a card trick, and you can see it below:

The trick uses The Fortune Teller prop for a routine that’s in my 2025 lecture notes. What I like about this prop is that people react positively when it’s introduced, and it’s got a nice three-hit punch at the end of the trick!

When doing TV appearances, I try to do one trick with big impact over multiple tricks. It makes the appearance cleaner. I also did have other stuff in my pockets if I needed to fill time!

-Louie